Album Details

• Artist: Abnormal Thought Patterns
• EP:
Abnormal Thought Patterns
• Label: CynNormal Labs
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2011-12-19

No prior experience with the brothers Tipton and their previous projects? Trust me, it's not necessary to enjoy Abnormal Thought Patterns and their debut self-titled EP. To be exact, the brothers are Jasun (guitars, keyboards) and Troy (bass) Tipton, and they are, between the two of them, incredibly accomplished at their respective instruments. As a guitar+bass duality, ATP is a thrashing, progressive monster, fueled by creative, finger-bending riffs and lead runs all built atop the foundation of talented drummer Mike Guy. This EP-length debut is chock full of twisting instrumental virtuosity, with plenty of room for a potential vocalist to take the remainder of the space that's actually lacking in the overall picture.

I'm typically not one to make such a claim, knowing full well that an instrumental band can and often does stand on it's own merits. And the creativity and chemistry on display with ATP certainly lends credence to that. The length of the EP is one on-going highlight reel of all of the various aspects of these three musicians' ability to gel together. Whether working off on another in the confines of a more traditionally written song structure or branching out to allow individual "wankery" (not always a derogatory term, mind you), the album comes off as a sort of rehearsal-tape for what's undoubtedly to come. Frankly, with the amount of talent between them, it may be difficult (or totally outside of their plans, regardless) to enlist a vocalist to wrap these sorts of compositions around, but it is an aspect that I think would do far more to help, rather than hinder, this talented trio.

Abnormal Thought Patterns is, in essence, the sort of project that wins over anyone who finds their favorite bits of metal to be the ones in which the guitar or bass or drums stand out, branch out from the confines of a song and dazzle you. But, I think it's all a template, a launching point from which the band can do some pretty incredible things with the right attention to detail. The talent of individual performance and cohesive songwriting is there in spades; the next step is to flesh out the sound and make some truly memorable music.

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